Frownland

Uh, it was a show.

Monty Python's Flying Circus - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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Studies show that when a given norm is changed in the face of the unchanging, the remaining contradictions will parallel the truth.

djchameleon

Ah okay. I only know the different movies they did and not the show itself.

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Fame, fortune, power, titties. People say these are the most crucial things in life, but you can have a pocket full o' gold and it doesn't mean sh*t if you don't have someone to share that gold with. Seems simple. Yet it's an important lesson to learn. Even lone wolves run in packs sometimes.

Paul Smeenus

^ The movie "...And Now For Something Completely Different" is skits taken directly from the TV show, remade in cinema format

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Engine

Oh thanks. I was confused too. I remember "...And Now For Something Completely Different" and I thought it was pretty dull. I saw it really young, though, which is maybe one of the main reasons I dislike British comedy. And most sketch comedy.

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Like an arrow,
I was only passing through.

Black Francis

Likewise here, the first time i saw it i didn't think it was that great, same with the holy grail, when i was younger i didn't like it but now i do.

But unlike you i luv sketch comedy, i like how it can create something quick and silly that just works, it's a quick effective way of telling a story in a few minutes..

not that there is much of a story in most of them, most of them focus on the funny mannerism of the characters not a rational story plot.

Tell you one thing i hate in some sketch shows,
i hate it when they milk the sh*t out of a popular character, Mad tv and SNL does this shamelessly, if a segment or character becomes popular they just rinse and repeat the whole thing.

I prefer more experimental shows like Tim & Eric or Mr show.

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"Hey Kids you got to meet the MIGHTY PIXIES!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbRbCtIgW3A

Frownland

^I hate that too. Portlandia does that to some extent. F ex I think they should really put the cacao couple to rest, I didn't find those sketches funny from the start.

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Studies show that when a given norm is changed in the face of the unchanging, the remaining contradictions will parallel the truth.

Black Francis

That's the worst, right?

When you hate a character that is a popular recurring feature in the show. it's a huge turn off cause it's just mindless fan service, and what is sad is that in most cases these comedians doing this sketches are often pressured by the network to stick doing the same f*ckn character over and over.

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"Hey Kids you got to meet the MIGHTY PIXIES!"

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JbRbCtIgW3A

Zer0

I grew up watching Harry Enfield and Chums.



Speaking of Monty Python, this never gets old.

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Lisnaholic

Yes, Monty Python was a weekly half-hour tv prog that had a devoted following for years. With good reason, imo because they had a team of excellent comedy actors and a lot of innovative ideas.

A problem with some comedy sketches is that they start with a funny premise, but immediately become pedestrian or predictable as they work through the idea. From what I`ve seen of SNL, it`s a criticism that applies to a lot of their material - but hey, I`m British, and humour is notorious for not crossing national boundaries.

As someone hinted earlier, I think the ratio of funny/not funny is absolutely cruxial; too much not funny starts to erode or negate the bits that are funny. If you`re laughing already, then you`re more disposed to laugh some more, but if you laugh-stop-wait, laugh-stop-wait then in the end you might not bother rising to the next laugh.

So the trick about good comedy is maintaining a momentum of surprises. Comedy is like a shark - it`s got to keep moving, got to stay funny, or it dies. That`s why I prefered Rowan and Martin`s Laugh In to SNL. Even when their jokes were corny, R&MLI just kept piling them on, punch-line after punchline, until you found yourself laughing at the silliest things. On a regular basis, Monty Python used to get it right too, with the help of some very clever scripts which kept notching up the humour. Here, for instance, is a personal fave:-

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"Am I enjoying this moment? I know of it and perhaps that is enough." - Sybille Bedford, 1953

Exo

I'm surprised nobody mentioned The State yet. Besides Monty Python, The State was the most geared toward my sense of humor.

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